Guilty as Sin

CHAPTER 45

“There see, a little shade and some sun as ordered.” Harry whispered as he sat himself down cautiously on the stone bench beside Draco in the sunny courtyard. Draco smiled weakly at Harry as he propped his head up against the warmth of the brick wall behind him. The Jasmine running along the climbers above them smelt fresh and wafted in clouds of aroma around the enclosed private garden. Harry had found the little courtyard by accident a few weeks ago when he’d been seeking some solitude from Draco’s moods. It was a nice little place but didn’t seem to be used by anyone else except the house elves that tended it.

“Where’s Snape.” Draco croaked quietly as he inhaled deeply on the fresh air he hadn’t seen in days. Harry considered himself lucky that the wards around Malfoy Manor had protected it from the Analysian Curse Voldemort had set upon the rest of the wizarding world. Without the wards Malfoy Manor would be thrust into an unnatural and perpetual dark winter like the rest of the world.

“Gone to get some potion ingredients to help you.” Harry muttered as he kicked off his shoes and ran his toes through the cold grass beneath his feet. The gold chain Snape had given him was still attached to his ankle and sparkled in the sunshine.

“It was worth it.” Draco whispered after an extended silence his eyes closing as an expression of contentment fell over his features. Harry frowned wondering what Draco was talking about.

“Was worth what?” Harry replied knowing that Draco had changed the subject of their conversation on a whim to something entirely different from what Harry had been discussing.

“That one night, he makes love to you.” Draco breathed out quietly in a weak but wistful sigh. Harry had to think for a moment what Draco was on about but then twigged quickly to what Draco was referring to. Indeed for the one night in the year Snape had actually made love to them instead of forcing dominant sex.

“I told you it was good didn’t I.” Harry smirked as he remembered the feeling of complete ecstasy that had engulfed his entire body when Snape had taken him when they’d been trapped in the Hogwart’s train station. Harry supposed that Draco’s own experience last week had been similar, the blonde had screamed a lot in Harry’s opinion. Harry was still replaying his own season in his memories when he heard Draco begin coughing deeply the blonde struggling to breath for a moment before slumping back exhausted against the warm brick wall.

“Can I have a glass of water?” Draco swallowed heavily as he rolled his head sideways and weakly cracked open his eyes to look at Harry questioningly. Harry rubbed his hand comfortingly across Draco’s knee before nodding.

“Okay, I’ll go and find Mixy don’t move.” Harry smiled at Draco who managed a huff of a laugh as Harry stood up and strode back through the French doors into the manor in search of a glass of water for Draco.

Harry wandered cautiously through the lower halls of the manor avoiding the rooms he knew Lucius frequented not wanting a confrontation with the elder Malfoy without Snape in the house. The house elves seemed curiously absent in the middle of the day and Harry assumed they were in the kitchens or doing chores upstairs. Mixy and the other house elves only responded to Lucius summons and so unless Harry ran into them by chance he could not call for them. Without a glass of water handy Harry decided to go for the next best thing. There was a pitcher of pumpkin juice in the library left over from breakfast and Harry knew it would still be there. Trouble was however that Lucius spent a lot of time in his library and it would mean having to approach the elder blonde wizard. Still the errand was for Draco’s benefit and Harry plucked up his courage and with a firm knock on the library door strode inside. It was almost a let down to see that the library was empty, the two abandoned books the elder wizards had been reading earlier having been put carefully back on their shelves. The house elves had already been in a cleaned up but the pitcher of juice was still sitting on the table. With a cheeky smile Harry scurried over to the table and collected the pitcher and quickly left the library. Harry didn’t believe his luck that he’d avoided Lucius and sprang happily back through the French doors of the courtyard ready to tell Draco that his father was nowhere in sight. Harry’s happy smile died on his lips however when his eyes fell on the scene happening in the courtyard.

Lucius was standing over his son the younger Malfoy curled up on the floor trying desperately to protect himself from each sickening blow his father was landing him. A swift kick to the stomach, followed by a nasty curse from the end of Lucius’ wand.

“No son of mine will give birth to an abomination of a creature!” Lucius’ voice was icy cold, it’s volume hardly audible above Draco’s pitifully cries but it’s tone deadly even. Every blow hit its mark perfectly and Harry was frozen to the spot in horror. Lucius hands were covered in blood and splatters of it littered the courtyard wall and grass, most of it was Draco’s. The blonde hair of the boy was practically soaked crimson red and his face was unrecognizable. It was the final sickening kick that Lucius planted in Draco’s stomach that finally jolted Harry out of his shocked horror. The kick was well aimed and forceful and unlike any of the other blows cause Draco to scream in a high pitched wail of agony that must have echoed around the entire empty manor and its surrounding grounds. The pitcher Harry was carrying fell from his hands shattering in a shower of glass and pumpkin juice as the boy reached for his wand.

“STOP!” Harry screamed as Lucius spun around having finally realized he was being watched. Harry’s hand shook visibly as he pointed his wand directly at the elder Malfoy. With his father’s attention diverted Draco took the opportunity to begin crawling towards the willow bush in the corner desperate for some protection. Harry didn’t dare take his eyes off Lucius though as the elder wizard sneered at him with dangerous intent.

“Ah Potter, the boy who would be a whore.” Lucius spat as he wiped his bloodied hands down the front of his robes before tightening his grip on his own wand. “Should I teach you a lesson too? I’m sure your parents would approve of it if they knew what you are, what you have become…” It had been a very long time since Harry had been forced to duel and was unprepared for the curse that Lucius sent his way. Harry managed to duck out of the way though impeded somewhat by his rounded belly. Harry sent one of his own curses back at Lucius who easily blocked it before retaliating. Lucius had years of experience on Harry, and it was showing. Harry may have been more powerful but he wasn’t as skilled as the elder Malfoy. All Harry could hope was that he kept Lucius busy until Severus came home. Draco was useless the blonde having curled up clutching his stomach beneath the canopy of the willow bush.

The wizards parried back and forth for sometime testing the waters and pushing every so often in the hopes of catching the other off guard with a strange or different curse. Harry wasn’t adept at knowing all the dark curses but he could block most of what Lucius sent his way. Harry was sure Malfoy was toying with him and it would only be a matter of time before he pounced.

That moment came unexpectedly when Harry stumbled on his own shoe left discarded by the stone bench earlier. As he began falling forward towards the bloodied grass and paving Harry instinctively let go of his wand and wrapped his arms around his stomach in protection as he fell face first to the ground. It occurred to Harry in a split second that perhaps his Aunt had been right when she’d chastised Dudley for leaving his shoes strewn about on the stairs at Privet Drive. Harry hit the ground heavily but with little damage, in the seconds it took for him to recover from the fall and reach for his wand out in front of him, Lucius had seized the opportunity. Lucius foot came crashing down onto Harry’s hand stretching for his wand the crunch of Harry’s fingers breaking beneath the dragon hide boot sounding just like the crunch of a snails shell on a wet garden path. Harry cried out in agony as he Lucius screwed his foot down onto the already broken fingers making Harry look up at him pleadingly.

“Ah the great Harry Potter will fall from grace by my own wand. How fitting an end…” Lucius pressed his wand up against Harry’s temple it’s hot ember end searing into the scar already made by Voldemort. Harry however was numb as he stared into the wild raging blue eyes of the elder wizard above him. Something seemed to happen then as Lucius lips began to move in order to utter the killing curse. The world fell into silence and a lifetimes worth of restrained frustrations and anger of being a trapped Elith-furatu came rushing to the surface like a wave. Harry’s gaze never left Lucius but even though the blonde’s lips were still moving nothing was coming out. A pulse of energy much like the one that had washed over Harry in the train station radiated out from his body sending Lucius backwards away from him. Lucius slammed into the brick wall of the sunny little courtyard and Harry could only watched as the blonde began writhing in pain, his body pinned spread-eagled against the bricks. When the pulse hit Lucius’ body against the wall it disappeared for a moment into the wizard but then like another rolling wave exploded from the man’s chest and headed right back at Harry. Harry knew fear but as he saw the movement of the air rushing towards him he feared for his life. Unable to get away from the rolling wave of reflected magic Harry was hit full force in the chest with the wave that just like before seeped back into his person from whence it had come. Harry finally it seemed could breath again and collapsed panting heavily on the grass as his senses went hay wire as the magic pulse took over his body. The world seemed to start again when the pulse dissipated inside of him leaving behind the lingering traces of magic Harry had never felt before. Harry knew it wasn’t his magic that he knew by sense alone. This new magic inside him that was mixing with his own was definitely someone else’s and if Harry had had a moment to think he might have realized then that it was Lucius Malfoy’s.

As it was however Harry didn’t have time to think before the French doors came crashing open and Snape swept into the courtyard his wand drawn and his eyes a deep purple as they surveyed the carnage. Harry was exhausted and could do little but lie in the bloodied pools created by Draco’s injuries as Snape strode over to where Lucius was still pinned against the wall uselessly trying to cast frantic curses from his wand at the approaching Superei. Harry knew what was going to happen and so weakly turned his head towards where he knew Draco was curled up under the bush. Had he the strength Harry would have crawled over to Draco and comforted him, shielded him from the scene that was about to happen but Harry had all on breathing let alone moving. Harry watched the scene unfold through Draco’s sad blue eyes and the sounds of tearing, ripping flesh. Severus was not a man to be trifled with and his retribution was swift. Harry heard the splatter of blood and the growl of anger from Snape’s throat before watching in the reflection of the blonde boy’s tears as Severus tore the other wizard limb from limb. Finally though it was over and Harry watched as Draco closed his eyes to the world leaving Harry to stare sadly at his only friend.

TBC>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A/N Alright, Alright I know I promised updates on my day off but life took a shitty turn and I\'m back at work nose to the grind stone and all that crap.... Anyway thanks for waiting sooooo patiently...*Scofts at the thought* here\'s the update I promised three lovely chapters to keep you all guessing.

Oh and if you want a quick update to get you off the cliffy you better get your reviewing fingers out and start saying some nice things about me....*all bribes can be sent to my email acount*

Anyway thanks to everyone who\'s reviewed so far I\'m really glad I\'ve captured so a broad audience with this story, not just the regular Snarry crowd that I\'m so fond of.

Hey and I never said this story was going to be fluffy bunny so don\'t go spouting to me about there being no confessions of love or shit like that...I warned you fair and square and you chose to read at your own peril...

Cheers and stay tuned for another update.

RIFFRAFF